Nationalist Congress Party President Sharad Pawar's grand-nephew, Rohit Pawar is contesting from Karjat-Jamkhed seat in Ahmednagar in a high-profile manner.
The aggressive yet soft-spoken Rohit, 34, is a Business Management graduate from University of Mumbai and becomes the fifth member from Pawar family to take the plunge in electoral politics this time and make a mark.
The others are Pawar, 78, with over 55 years in politics including thrice as Chief Minister and union minister, his daughter Supriya Sule, 50, a fourtime MP from Baramati, including one stint in Rajya Sabha, and her cousin Ajit Pawar, 60, who's been a two-time Deputy Chief Minister of the state.
The go-getter Ajit Pawar is the son of Anantrao Pawar, the elder brother of Pawar and recently shot into headlines when he abruptly quit as a MLA from Baramati after his uncle (Sharad Pawar) was named by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the alleged Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank scam.
Ajit Pawar had launched his son Parth Pawar, 29, in the last Lok Sabha elections from the Maval seat, but he lost, denting the Pawar family's 'winning image'.
The latest entrant, Rohit Pawar is the son of Rajendra Pawar (son of Sharad Pawar's brother, Appasaheb Pawar). Rohit is the President of the influential Indian Sugar Mills Association besides being member of Pune Zilla Parishad.
As his poll campaign got underway last week, Rohit posted pictures of his uncle Ajit Pawar campaigning with a caption "Got tremendous response" in the NCP stronghold.
Incidentally, Rohit had campaigned extensively for his cousin Parth Pawar in the 2019 Lok Sabha where the latter had to bite the dust in the second Modi-wave that swept the BJP to power at the centre.
This time, the challenge is equally tough for Rohit as the BJP has openly sworn to "finish off" the influence of the Pawar family from state politics by 2024.
( With inputs from IANS )